If You Vote … They Will Come

By Pete DeLuca

Yesterday, while dozens of baseball’s elite prepared for the 82nd annual Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star Game in Phoenix, a team of former All-Stars and Hall of Famers joined at FanFest to unveil an unbelievable new promotion; the Pepsi MAX Field of Dreams Team contest.

Imagine this – next spring, you and 10 of your closest friends assemble a team to play a baseball game on your home field. The visiting teams’ lineup; Carlton Fisk, Frank Thomas, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs, Tony Gwynn, Ken Griffey Jr., Ricky Henderson, Randy Johnson, and Greg Maddux.



This has got to be too good to be true, right? It is all a part of Pepsi MAX’s latest creative promotion. From now through August 31, people are encouraged to visit MLB.com/PepsiMAX and “build” their opponent’s roster by voting for their favorite players at each position (you can vote up to 25 times per day). Each vote submitted counts an as entry. From there, four regional finalists are selected and will begin campaigning for a chance to take on this assembled team of legends. The winner and All-Star team will be announced during the 2011 MLB postseason.

"Pepsi MAX is all about creating unique, one-of-a-kind opportunities for MLB fans to help amplify their baseball experience," said Mark Rooks, senior director for Pepsi sports marketing. "With this promotion, we are looking to engage MLB fans by allowing them to tell us who they think some of the greatest living legends of the game are, and to top it all off, we are giving them the chance of a lifetime to play against some of their all-time heroes."

The MLB and Pepsi MAX are also ramping up their online presence; providing interactive statistics, high-definition videos, and background stories of the legends involved. Fans can also enlist the help of active Major Leaguers, opinion polls, and Twitter and Facebook debates to aid their selections.

This is another brilliant promotion from the creative minds at MLB and Pepsi Max. My hat is off to the two companies for continuing to find innovative ways to increase awareness, grow their social media platforms, and reward fans.

Pete DeLuca is Manager of Creative Services at Maroon PR. Contact him at Pete@MaroonPR.com.